The new Superman/Batman logo unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con.Photo by Warner Bros./DC Entertainment

SAN DIEGO -- Nothing quite says "tease" like reading from a mega-popular, fan-favorite comic book at the end of a movie panel.

But that's just what Henry Lennix, who played General Swanwick in this summer's Man of Steel blockbuster, did at the San Diego Convention Center's Hall H on Saturday afternoon. When he joined the film's star Henry Cavill on stage at the end of the Man of Steel panel, director Zack Snyder asked him to read something.

Snyder told the audience, "We're not adapting this thing, but it will help us tell you something."

"I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in all your most private moments, I want you to remember my hand at your throat," Lennix read from Frank Miller's seminal "The Dark Knight Returns," which culminates in an older Batman going toe-to-toe with a Superman who has become a lackey of the U.S. government.

"I want you to remember the one man who beat you," Lennix read from the book, published in 1986. A combined Superman-Batman logo appeared on the auditorium's screen, and then the lights came up.

The comic is notable for having changed the decades-long, friendlier dynamic between the two heroes, as it positioned them on opposite ends of the political and social spectrum.

A press release followed, announcing that Zack Snyder will direct the as-yet unnamed film. It will combine the Man of Steel's actors with an unknown Batman cast. Snyder and David S. Goyer will write the film's script, with Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas serving as executive producers. The film is expected to begin shooting next summer, with a summer 2015 release date.